(I did see this thread, but I couldn't form an opinion about how quiet those actually are)

The reason I'm still using air cooling is because I want a silent system at idle .. I don't mind noise at full load because that happens rarely when I'm using the PC. I don't play games but I run intense maths simulations, most of the times overnight but occasionally also during daytime when I'm at the PC.

I'd like to get a water cooling kit for the following:

I just got a 3770K and a Maximus V Gene. I removed the IHS and replaced the stock TIM with Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra. My temps dropped more than 20C and Iam now able to do 4.7 GHz @ 1.30v vcore at 26C ambient with the hottest core under Prime95 being 75C.

I tried 5 GHz but at 1.50v vcore the hottest core goes to 99C and Prime95 fails within the first minute. Everyone using water cooling is able to do 5.0 GHz easily with less than 1.50v vcore. I'd like to go above 5.0 GHz to speed up my maths simulations which take many hours sometimes.

So, I'm asking the best silencing experts I know, i.e. the SPCRers: are there any pumps that are as quiet as a 12cm fan at 700 RPM, i.e virtually silent? Are there pumps that can be throttled voltage or PWM wise to reduce their noise to silent levels (plugging them into the mobo fan header to auto control voltage/pwm)?

Last edited by mastabog on Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

I'm not an expert, only building 2 water cooling systems in my PC building years (~20), but I could not hear the pump on either, even with the fans off! The only time I've ever heard a pump running, was when there was air in the pump!

I'd say the only true disadvantage of water cooling, is getting cards in/out if something fails! (oh, and don't try to water cool a small case)

The DDC-1 pump in this review http://martinsliquidlab.org/2011/03/10/ ... g-round-1/ sounds the loudest of the bunch, and quite annoying in my opinion .. granted, the reviewer could have offered a reference sound of some sort for us to really tell how loud it is in absolute terms. In any case, the other pumps, especially the Koolance PMP-450 (*) with that custom top is dead quiet in comparison.

(*) It seem that Laing D5, Koolance PMP-450, Swiftec MCP655 and Alphacool VPP655 are all the exact same pump.

The custom pump top COV-RP450 looks to be doing wonders to the noise compared to stock (there are videos of both), although the stock one is still quieter than the DDC.

I tried the Corsair H100 and I returned it on the same day as the pump noise was just horrendous (granted, we're talking SPCR standards, but it was absolutely annoying).

The pump in this video is also very annoying to my standards: http://youtu.be/i15O2ZF_W-w (most probably he has it screwed to the case, amplifying vibration, but still)

The first one was WAY too long ago. It was a small fish tank pump in a metal reservoir. With a VERY slow fan and a huge radiator, I had to get within 6" to even hear the system, and at the time, I was in the country, with little outside sounds!

My current game system uses a Swiftech H20-320 HD Edge, which uses a MCP35X PWM. I just turned off all the fans (love my new AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT) in the system, stuck my head in the case (it's still open, waiting on a new video card), and all I can hear is either the CD or one of the Harddrives! (I think the CD?) My H20-320 is directly connected to the case, and I am now in the noisy city, so background noise is MUCH higher. Either I got lucky on my pump, or someone got unlucky!

BTW, I have slightly above average hearing, but at my age, I am loosing the higher end. In my 20-30s, I could ALWAYS hear the high voltage on ANY TV (in the tube TV days) when I walked into a room.

My current game system uses a Swiftech H20-320 HD Edge, which uses a MCP35X PWM. I just turned off all the fans (love my new AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT) in the system, stuck my head in the case (it's still open, waiting on a new video card), and all I can hear is either the CD or one of the Harddrives! (I think the CD?) My H20-320 is directly connected to the case, and I am now in the noisy city, so background noise is MUCH higher. Either I got lucky on my pump, or someone got unlucky!

I wanted to buy the MCP35X but for the life of me I couldn't find it in Europe for a reasonable price to get it into the UK.

I bought the Laing D5 in the end. Actually, I bought the Alphacool VPP655 SINGLE, which is basically the Laing D5 without any top. Separately, I bought the EK D5 pump top EK-D5 X-TOP CSQ ... the pump is extremely quiet. Actually, on the minimum setting I can't hear it at all aven after switching off all fans AND hard drives.

I normally have 140mm fans running at about 400 RPM. The pump only becomes audible over the fans and hard drives after the setting 2-3 or so. It's sitting on foam.

Apart from being silent, I like this pump a lot because it stays very cool. The DDC that I had for a short while was getting very hot! Does the MCP35X get hot?

I'm now building a PWM to voltage circuit to control the pump via the motherboard, which will be able to provide at least 2A to the pump and up to 12V (basically rail-to-rail). I'll use this for my 140mm fans too as they are all 3-pin and not all my motherboard fan headers support voltage control (some are PWM only). I haven't found ready-made designs for this or cheap off-the-shelf products that can source 2A and take PWM input.

I read a bit more about the MCP35X PWM and it appears to be a nice pump, also quite powerful.

...

Does yours sound the same as in the above video?

I just got an MCP35X and I seem to have got lucky - some people say they can hear them, but I am very picky about noise and honestly cannot hear it at all. This is in a test loop, with nothing else making any noise (entire system powered down, just the pump running). There must be some variation down to manufacture tolerances. The other explanation is that my loop is quite restrictive (external radbox with long tubes) so the pump is only doing about 1gpm, maybe even a little less (did get a flowmeter reading the other night, but loop has since changed), if your loop was non-restrictive and the pump was going nuts doing 2+ gpm it might be noisier, but of course you can just PWM the 35X down to counter that - I intend to run mine on an aquaero, so I will set up a PWM curve to match pump speed to system load, but it turns out I won't need to do it for noise as I thought I might, but it should still help with pump life.

Old topic, I know, but since I got no replies to a more specific question on this, I'll risk bumping it and generalize:

This is something I've been wondering about. Only my choice is limited to closed-loop coolers for now. Are there any that don't have an annoying buzzing vibration? I've tried 2 Intel liquid coolers (by Asetek) and both had a very noticeable hum / vibration / buzz that originated in the pump and resonated in the radiator. Basically with my case on my desk, I could hear the pump working by the low bassy hum it produced. Wasn't loud but was definitely annoying. (I'm not sure if it was due to bubbles, as I tried 2 different units, and bubbles actually sounded like bubbly water--that sound going away shortly after I'd stop moving the tubes).

I did yes. It's more specifically about Thermaltake's liquid coolers (as there's already enough info on other Asetek coolers and Corsair's to make me think they are all buzzy/hummy). NZXT has just come out with new closed-loop coolers that accommodate 140mm fans, but unfortunately I can't fit those into my case efficiently.

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